Twitter and Facebook - who is technologically challenged?

I note that I haven't posted a blog for a while so I thought I had better bring you up to date. Most of this year has been following new social media phenomena and (Yes I admit it) frightened by the plethora of new programs attached. I started with facebook and found it a great way to find out what is happening with my family but there are two major contributors in my stream and so when I log on I don't get a bit from each person I get pages of posts from Lorelli and Susan - none of them all that interesting. Do I really care that one has come back from a meeting and another had toast for breakfast? I am failing to see the value in belonging. So I went to twitter and found that I was fast being followed by some very powerful people. Why? I can't work it out unless I was supposed to then follow them. In some cases I have but it all seems to be an endless whirl of unintelligible information and who do you ask to interpret it for you- and why would we make up another language e.g. twitterese at all? It seems you need other programs to manage your ramblings and to sort all the endless so now I am here saying 'What's it all about Alfie?' Maybe it's time to exit stage right.

Moving into Winter

Its been a while since I posted a blog so I wish to bring you uptodate. The new website is looking good but there are always little ways to improve it. I loked at the landing page of the most popular page - partnership agreements - and paid someone to rewrite my script. After having it there for two weeks it was obvious that my original wording was just as effective as the new text so I changed it back.

I have been busy preparing for online courses and hope to get them up and running soon. My problem is a personal one in that I have to have a knee operation and my recovery time is not clear. That makes timetabling difficult. To make matters worse (or better dependent on your view) I am getting lots of hits on the website for small business courses and I would prefer to have positive information to show people. It's of no benefit to be half ready.

I plan to employ an admin person to help keep me on track and do lots of the admin that bogs me down and once again I want to be here for the training phase - I have delayed on this as a result of being on a 'waiting list' and having no definite time for operation.

Now I have a date and I am busy trying to finish off small projects before I take my time out. Is this a case of majoring in minor things - commonly called procrastination - or is it a case of clearing the decks?

What ever it is - it is time to go and do some work.

Maggie

Welcome to Excitement

Friday, February 29, 2008

Well 2008 has started out as an exciting year. I feel perhaps that it is because I have written some strong goals that include lots of networking. Hey isn't that a great pastime. Meeting new people and interacting with them and their businesses. Managed to get a couple of good clients out of it too. That's the way to generate excitement.Coming back to goals I have moved on the first three and within the week the first will be complete. I will have a new website - all clean and tidy and working well. What was wrong with the last one? Well nothing from the face of it but -- I had a shopping cart behind it that was only partly installed and then when that designer moved on the following one said he could handle it but - he couldnt access the previous cart so he installed another one and many pages that didn't quite work. Well they worked well enough to fool me for a while but I susses something was wrong as the sales did not come in as expected. I kept changing the text thinking that the landing pages were the problem.Then I started getting spammers putting porn sites on my customer comments areas. I spent hours trying to get them off but it was so time consuming. Then the universe looked kindly on me and I was contacted by a lovely lady in Brisbane who is an X-Cart specialist. She took my hand and led me through the maze and now I have a shiny new website that works a wonder. It seems that the first shopping cart was pulling against the second and causing a great corruption problem. Anyway the main thing is that I have achieved goal number one for the year and have a new website that WORKS and to celebrate I completed goal number two and upgraded to a widescreen vdu. Now for goal three - its on its way so more on that later.Wishing you successMaggie
Posted by Maggie R at 1:52 PM 0 comments
Thursday, January 31, 2008

New Year Thoughts
WEll folks each year we have our resolutions but none has been so challenging and exciting as this year for me.I had four major tasks for the year plus of course the multitude of little goals . I decided to tackle the big ones first and where possible throw in a little one just to make me feel like I was getting somewhere. The first was to get the damned computer going properly. I had been having trouble with the cable and staying online (when I could get there). Logic told me that with cable I should have instant access as well as all day access. It wasn't happening. I kept gettign kicked off - it was ALWAYS slow to start and then when the computer started freezing and not saving anything that didn't want to go under my documents (which is everything in my case). A previous techo had suggested I have two hard drives and for once it paid off. My new guy reloaded all of my software onto the alternate hard drive and I was away again. Goal one achieved. Goal 2: New Website. I had been having trouble with the back end of the website and I suspect losing sales. Some hackers had put porn sites on the customers comments. I spent two hours trying to take them off and managed a few but the time was better used in reviewing and replacing. I had been contacted by a lovely lady in Queensland and she turned out to be a specialist in X-cart. Result a new website due to be launched within the next two weeks.So what's next? I have a seminar for those New to Business and that is scheduled for tomorrow. And next is the Short Business Course - yes the whole Certificate 4 in Small Business in FIVE days. Five Saturdays that is. Much better than wasting the whole year with night school.So its courses to be scheduled and seminars online. Goal 3 coming up.RegardsMaggie
Posted by Maggie R at 8:38 PM 0 comments

Progress on New Book

Well folks - I must admit that writing a book is not as easy as one would think. Well it's not the writing of the book - it's the editing and all the other kerfuffle one must go through to get the book to the market.

I have been blessed in that this time I have a publisher who is doing all that work for me but I still had to do some editing. That was not so hard . I just had to explain in different words what I meant here and there. We all assume that everyone understands what we say but communicating with written language is harder than the spoken word. I guess that is why I prefer face to face on telephone in preference to msn or email messages. And don't get me started on sms and the new language that is emerging on there.

Back to the book. I was sent a copy of the cover and was less than impressed. They had taken only the law subjects and put them on the cover and left out the fun stuff. I sent a message back saying that based on the cover alone I would not buy the book - and I thought they were the marketing gurus. Well we will have to see what turns up - when one doesn't have control it is hard.

From all reports the book will now be with the printer and will be ready for its launch some time in January 2006.

I suppose the next question you will ask me is - am I writing my next book? Well yes and no. I am gathering information and have a couple of chapters but I must admit to spending most of my energy elsewhere in my business - that may change over the Christmas/New Year period when my business traditionally goes quiet.

Speaking of business - duty calls.

Talk to you soon

Maggie

Skills with Dating

Well folks

It may look like I have gone off track but I met this wonderful woman called Karen Moloney who is running workshops for singles to expand their conversation skills. I looked at her book and thought how applicable it was for all people - not just singles. I could see how her workshops and courses could help people connect in all conversation situations .

And that is why I negotiated with her to bring you her first book 'Skills with Dating'. It is an easy read and I am sure you will find at least one 'hint' that will help improve your business skills, if not those skills necessary for your personal relationships.

For those that think that the two are not related - think again. The 'health' of your personal relationships has a direct bearing on your ability to function in the workplace. It impacts on all of your other relationships - with clients; with associates; with prospects.

Karen has targeted single people in her business but there are many lonely people and very few totally open marital relationships. You don't have to be all things to any one person but you do have to be honest in your relationship. You owe it to yourself to buy Karen's book and check out your own relationship.

And for the parents and grand-parents out there Karen has a book in the process of release which is targeting the vulnerable teenagers. I have seen a copy and feel that it is an essential skills tool for every child from early teens (or in this fast moving age- pre-teens). It forms the basis of conversations between parents and children and opens doorways for more satisfying relationships while giving children tools to cope with our complex world. If you are interested in either of these books please contact us.

Maggie

New book coming.

Well folks I have been busy writing again and my next book will be released in January 2006. Look for it under the New Holland Publishing title. I will come back to you with more detail later. It has been a challenge writing to a deadline especially when its someone else's deadline but I enjoyed it and am currently planning the next book as a follow up to the newest one.

I have also been approached by two different people to ghost write their stories - negotiations still to be completed. Not sure I will accept as each will be a major project that will take me away from my core business.

It is interesting to note that since Starting a Business in Australia was released many people have spoken to me about the frustration of finding an agent or getting heard in the publishing field. I too had that problem with many agents rejecting the book without even looking at it - simply because they had their quota of authors or it was Monday or some other obscure reason.

Considering that there is a book in each person on earth and there are many more to write I feel that this situation will only become worse. My word for you is remember some of the most famous authors were also rejected by some of the major publishers - like them you must just keep presenting and sooner or later you will come across someone who will give look at your manuscript.

Having said that I see the rising number of people who self publish only to find that the distribution factor is much too difficult and they end up with a shed full of books. Some of these books are valuable resources. If that is you, perhaps you may look at selling them through another site such as ours. Talk to us if you have a book that is related to business or personal development.

Maggie

Long Distance Coaching using Voice Over Technology

Just wrote this for my newsletter. Thought I would share it with you
Business Coach on Call

Wanting to start a business but not being able to access information is a common problem in the country areas of Australia. And it is even harder to find a business mentor to help with the day to day problems of business and personal life. Not any more.

Maggie Richardson of Coach On Call now provides a way for those who are distant from city centres to access both information regarding new business in Australia as well as coaching support for those who are moving through the hiccoughs that occur throughout the life of a business.

Maggie is a published author with her latest book ‘Starting a Business in Australia” becoming a much appreciated text book for all those doing business studies in Year 11 to the real world. It provides an easy to read guide to business planning. The book is promoted through The Australian Small Business Centre where it can be purchased online.

She started ‘Coach on Call’ as an added service for those who either felt that reading a book was too hard or for those who needed more personal help. She has helped develop many concepts and guides her clients as they either work their way through the book or tackle some problem within the business.


“Most of the problems occur when people fail to seek advice” said Maggie and so I am providing the initial requirements for business and the business plan in the book, and then the backup service to support the person as they achieve their dreams. Businesses fail when people just jump in without essential knowledge and the cost of failure in business can be very high.

On the other hand the cost of advice is small compared to potential losses. Maggie has two comments – one is that education costs once – ignorance costs many times; the other is that she has eliminated the cost of the phone call for clients who have broadband by using ‘Voice Over’ technology. Not only can coaching times be worked around variable time tables but the cost of long distance calls has been eliminated.

To find out more email maggie@australiansmallbusiness.com.au
Or phone 1300 302 698 Free call anywhere in Australia

Winter Blues

Well folks the cool weather has started and with it the drop in sales for some people. I must admit I have been busy finishing off my latest book so I did not notice the winter creeping in. But now its finished - well almost and I look up to find snow on my shoes - no not literally.

I had most of the book printed as a hard copy for the publisher and some of the tables corrupted. Happy days. Go back and fix them up. Don't you just love computers?

The book has taken me nearly three months and now I am looking at getting back to business. First on the agenda - get my paper work up to date for the year end. I have been having a little trouble with some of my systems so that will be the next thing.

Actually winter is a good time to check out all the little details that make the business hum. You know the sort of things - check out your bookwork to make sure all the information cross checks. Check on your ordering system to find out if there are items that have been ordered but either not delivered or not included in stock. I remember ordering some overalls for my husband one time and when they came in the woman in the shop just put them on the shelf - the other assistant sold them so when I went in again they had come and gone. I must admit to being a little on the browned off side. I never shopped there again. Perhaps you may need to see if that is happening in your business. Ignoring a customers needs is a surefire way to move the customer over to your opposition. Do you have a system in place to make sure that is not happening. Why not pick one area of your business and work on streamlining it. That is a great cure for the winter blues - keeps you busy - and makes the spring even more exciting.

Regards

Maggie